To write on cricket tha wants to watch it

Let’s be superficial always, Darling, and pity the poor philosophers!*

Try to guess which politician, or, failing that, the politician from which party, answered thus to a question posed by a reader, apparently, in today’s Independent.

Q – Which [Conservative/Liberal/Socialist] philosophers do you most admire?

A. – I don’t have a favourite [C/L/S] philosopher as such and prefer to listen to a broad range of influences … So, for example, I am a fan of Malcolm Gladwell’s books (“The Tipping Point”, “Blink”), which tend to study human behaviour and have interesting things to say about what motivates us and how we make judgement calls.

This is, of course, Grant Shapps, Conservative Housing Spokesman – couldn’t be anyone else really, could it? Or could it?